Samsung’s latest operating losses aren’t as bad as anticipated and may be a sign that the worst of the company’s troubles are now behind it, according to a National Post article by Youkyung Lee. While the full figures of its quarterly report have not yet been released, Samsung says its January-March operating profit was $5.4 billion USD, and its operating earnings fell only 31 percent from the same time last year – a drop that wasn’t quite as steep as many had expected.
It’s a good sign for the consumer electronics giant, which had a pretty rough 2014: A flood of competition from low- and middle-spectrum smartphone makers forced Samsung to cut both its production costs and the number of smartphone models it had in the works, and on top of that its biggest rival, Apple, made a serious dent in its marketshare on its home turf in South Korea. There was also a major kerfuffle over its smart TV’s potential privacy violations. All that led to a general wage freeze for the company’s employees early this year.
Now, Lee reports, the company seems to be turning a new page, citing its success in its microprocessor business and the improvements to its flagship mobile device, whose three-sided screen design has proven popular. Moreover, Samsung has a major new smartwatch in the works that could prove to be a serious competitor in that particular market. So while its impending fiscal report will feature major losses, there seems to be cause for optimism going forward.
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